LARAMIE – Allyson Fertig was not born when Amy Burnett scored 37 points against UTEP on Feb. 25, 1995.
 
Wyoming's star center didn't even know what the program single-game record was before the Cowgirls defeated Air Force 64-56 on Wednesday night at the Arena-Auditorium.
 
Fertig had 21 points on 9-for-10 shooting, including her first made 3-pointer of the season, at the intermission. The Falcons adjusted their defense to make it more difficult to get post touches over the final 20 minutes but the 6-foot-4 senior still finished with 30 points, 15 rebounds, three blocks, two assists, one steal and no turnovers.
 
After another remarkable performance that Fertig made look routine, she was asked about being on pace to break Burnett's record at halftime.
 
"If it would have happened, great. But it didn't happen, great," Fertig said. "Air Force changed their defense. The second half they were fronting. That's their usual defense but it's not just fronting, it's like dancing around. Then they had someone sagging off. It was a good play on them because they moved the focus on my teammates and my teammates were able to knock down some shots.
 
"I don't even know what the school record is. It doesn't even matter. I mean, it would have been awesome, but it would have been awesome if anyone broke a school record."
 
Fertig is playing the best basketball of her career and is determined to lead the Cowgirls to a Mountain West championship.
 
Even though she may shrug off breaking records and individual honors, the feeling inside the UW locker room and throughout the fan base is Fertig should win the MW player of the year award.
 
"Her numbers speak for themselves," head coach Heather Ezell said. "Gosh, of course she's our Mountain West player of the year. She gives us everything she's got night in and night out."
 
Fertig leads the MW in scoring (21.1 ppg), rebounding (10.2 rpg), blocks (2.3 bpg) and field-goal percentage (.632).
 
Entering Saturday's home game against San Jose State, the girl from Glendo ranks sixth on UW's all-time scoring list with 1,709 points and is second in career rebounds at 1,079. With at least seven games remaining, Fertig has a chance to flirt with Christine Fairless' lofty scoring record (1,933 points, 1985-89) and to break Michele Hoppes' rebounding record (1,104, 1984-87).
 
"I think the best part is all the fans have seen me since middle school, so they've been watching me through the journey," said Fertig, who won three state titles at Douglas High before earning MW freshman of the year honors and then all-MW first team honors (twice) at UW. "These fans of mine are like fans from the beginning, even if they were like my haters in high school because I was playing against my daughters or something. But now they're my fans.
 
"It's just a different feeling and experience than coming from out of state. It's awesome (being) from Wyoming and playing and going down in history as a Wyoming Cowgirl."
 
The Cowgirls (15-9, 9-3) have won four consecutive games and are tied with rival Colorado State for second in the MW standings. UW will get another crack at the Rams, who won in Laramie despite 34 points from Fertig, in Fort Collins and conclude the regular season against first-place UNLV at the Arena-Auditorium.
 
Fertig is only concerned with sweeping the Spartans at 2 p.m. Saturday.
 
"The years I've been here we've always been up there but then we'd lose to a team we should have never lost to. So far this year we haven't done that, and I don't see us doing that," Fertig said. "With San Jose State coming in I'm really confident going in there. We just need to go back to practice with more of a focus. I think before Air Force we had a little lack of focus at practices. Keep that focus up."
 
If you are interested in learning more about NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) or would like to support our student-athletes, please visit 1wyo.org. 1WYO was created out of Wyoming's culture of neighbor helping neighbor. The mission is to promote and strengthen local charitable organizations and develop Wyoming student athletes. 
 
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